So What Exactly Do You Do?
How many times have I heard this question? And maybe you have too? There seems to be a disbelief from family and friends when you work for yourself especially when you work from home, as they cannot relate it back to a shop nor do you make millions they can brag about. So how do you handle those questions?
To be honest I found it hard and still do as I try to explain to my family and friends to what I exactly I do and how come they still see me at the shops and the playground with the kids? As I work from home of course I can do the juggle between work and family and choose when to work though most of the times the work chooses me because as a small business owner work flow fluctuates and is obviously not consistent but I am learning to continue my marketing even when things are going well.
So what do I do? Well I work at your home/ office when you want me to and basically do all the administrative tasks that you want me to do and for a cuppa I will take out the garbage too at the end of my day! And just recently I added a team of very experienced and very professional office allrounders to the business so now I can assist you 5 days per week even in school holidays!
Like the sound of that? Great just give me a call on 0414 477 459 or email me at diana@pa-on-the-go.com to book in your FREE business consultation where I come to you and we go through the pain points you have in your business and how PA on the GO can make those concerns disappear!
Now I would love to hear what your business is about!
What do you Call Your Office?
Recently I put this question out there on Facebook and got a lot of response so obviously it is something that is quite relevant to small business owners especially the ones that work from home.
So do you ever take the office outside? A few weeks ago it just didn’t stop raining and it was making my kids go crazy and so one day when my son was in child care I took my netbook and my daughter with me to pick up work from a client and on the way back while my daughter slept I stopped at Warriewood beach and hooked up my netbook to my personal internet on the iPhone and started working.
It was something new and it inspired me to find other “office spaces” I could work from as I have found it quite motivating and also no distractions apart from the occasional seagull or a weird looking guy with his dog passing by! So here are some “office venues” that I have tried and tested and some I am looking into to trying.
- Local coffee shop e.g. Gloria Jeans, Narrabeen though I cannot have my kids with me as they are just too young to sit still for 2 hours (they are 4 and 2 years old)
- Local playground e.g. playground on corner of Garden and MacPherson street, Warriewood as it is small enough for me to watch both kids and have great reception with internet and phone reception plus they have these big wooden platform to sit on with the netbook and several benches to sit and work at the same time.
- Innovation Space, they rent out hot desks, full size office desks and even your own office plus access to printer, bathroom and kitchinette. I have yet to try it out and obviously no kids! It is also a great place to have your meetings at instead of your “messy” home or again the local coffee shop.
- Work on the beach and kids can play in the sand but make sure it is not too windy otherwise all the sand goes into your netbook and of course always watch your kids!
- Another good one is your local RSL, I go on a regular basis to the Pittwater RSL which is comfortable and affordable. They also have computers with Internet access for free so if you are working “in the cloud” it’s ideal. Again if you coordinate with your child’s nap it works very well plus for the bit older one you could sit outside as there is a small play area but all depends on your child.
Another major plus about these venues you can stay as long as you like. Nobody harassing you with the bill trying to get you to move.
As life is definitely more challenging with balancing my business and my 2 kids, I would not change it in a million years as my life is never dull or boring. It is full of life and always interesting!
Now this would be my next “outdoor office.” What do you think?
I would love to hear what you use as your office away from home. Please feel free to post your comment.
Diana
Having a Mentor, has been the best thing ever for my Business!
I recently started the Women in Business Mentoring Program which is funded by NSW Trade and Investment and run by Sue Heins from Inspiring Women. Sadly the new government will not continue this program that I have found the best thing that has ever happened to me and my business PA on the GO.
Sue matched each one of us up with a mentor that she thought that would suit our challenge in business and our personality, at first I couldn’t see it.
My mentor is a lovely soft spoken woman and I am loud, outspoken and twice as tall! But as we meet every week or every fortnight we get to know each other better and though I am organised in my work when it comes to my own business I have lots of things going on in my head that I struggle with to get on paper and my mentor has been wonderful putting some structure down as I go through all of them and tick them off as we go.
Meet my mentor Reeny who puts heart and business together! To check out her business go to http://www.passionandpossibilities.com/
My mentor has given me the confidence that I can do this, I can change the direction of my business. I can tell her my worries and insecurities as she has been there before.
One of my challenges was to create goals for my business plan and Reeny has showed me that I can and should aim higher than what I think is possible.
My “light bulb” moment was when my mentor created a basic forecast spreadsheet of what I could potentially earn with one subcontractor working
for me and what I could earn with 5 and so and I realised I could make this work! Having a mentor for your business is vital as they can put your dreams onto paper and help you visualise what is in your head and give you the confidence that you can do this and that you will do this!
The amazing part about this program that the mentors are doing this for free, they take time out from their busy lives to sit down with us and give us guidance on this exciting journey as they want to give back to the community or return the favour as someone helped them at some point in time.
If you would like to know more about the Mentor Program go to https://www.facebook.com/WiBusinessNB and http://www.inspiringwomen.org.au/SmallBizMentoring2012.aspx
Do you have a Mentor? How did you find your Mentor? Love to hear it!
“Work-life balance” is a dream for most small business owners – or is it??
When I was first asked to write this blog about having the balance between family and business my thoughts went to the clichéd phrase “work-life balance.” So what is it, why is it important to have it and how does one go about getting it? Here are my views:
What is work-life balance?
The balance that works for one person does not necessarily work for another. My definition of work-life balance is the balance that you as an individual, are OK with to fit into your values and what’s important to you. I coach mums around this topic often and help them to uncover what they are OK with. I see some mums that love working, work a 60 hour week and really make the most of the time outside of that to enjoy personal/family life. I see other mums who stay at home full time and don’t feel like they have enough quality time for themselves or the family. The balance is in your mindset.
So why is it important to have it?
With all the different hats we wear as small business owners it’s easy to get caught up in non-stop working. All work and no play (or vice versa) makes mum a dull girl or burnt out! One reason for me to take stock of where I was allocating my time was that I wanted to offer my kids the best of me at least some of the time. Psychologists say the imprinting phase for a child is up to 7 years of age. During this phase the key influences are their role models, namely parents. I want them to see how I can run a business and look after my health and have some fun along the way. If I’m enjoying the journey, I am teaching them that they too can enjoy the journey.
So how do you get it?
First thing is to work out what’s important to you. Write theses values in a list and then prioritise them. The priorities might change day to day or week to week depending on what’s happening e.g. major project at work or baby sick at home. Be prepared to go with the flow. The important thing is that the list of what is important to you is on your radar and not off in some pipe dream. Then allocate some of your time each day to each priority.
For example, my daily list includes quality time with hubby (e.g. a meal together or simply a text message that says “hi, I’m thinking of you” if one if us is working late), fun time with kids (e.g. rolling with them on the floor or tickling them as I dry them off after their bath), exercise and eating well (e.g. a walk or a 2 minute Pilates exercise) and nurturing and growing my business (i.e. In priority order, a realistic list of things I can achieve in a day).
Keeping all these things on my radar allows me to be far more productive each day as I’m not ignoring things that are important to me. I’m reducing the mind chatter that says I should have done this or I wish I had time for that. The clearer mind allows me to be more engaged with everything I am doing from work to hubby to kids.. Get really clear on what’s important to you and start living by it today!
Dina Cooper
Dina Cooper is a personal coach to mums. Dina is on a mission to help as many mums worldwide to be the mum of their dreams and have more fun in their daily life. Her success is in her clients’ results. Before embarking on her own, she was working in human change both in Australia and internationally.
Dina is a big believer in personal empowerment and its contribution to personal success. If you know and like who you are and what you stand for, you have what you need to be the mum you want to be.
My mojo has left the building
Sometimes in business we lack motivation, and I found this happening to myself recently. The pressures of running two small businesses, working extra hours, looking after the home and children and then getting ill took its toll. Both Mo and Jo had left the building, what should I do?
I looked online for some inspiration and came up with a few good ideas; these were spruce up your workspace, change your location for the day and reward yourself. These are all very good things to try but I needed a bit more oomph to get me back on track.
I decided to set myself small goals to give myself something to work towards, I felt it would help me get back on track with work and have a sense of achievement. I set daily and weekly goals to and found that once I was back in the swing of doing regular tasks I was much more motivated to do more work.
Working towards something other than the bottom line can give you something new to focus on and give different motivation. I decided if I worked on the goals I had set and achieved them I could have a small reward, for example I have set myself times to check and respond to emails, this allows me to have a period of work with no distractions. If I stick to it I can get a coffee from a local coffee shop as a treat.
Remember you are not going to be 100% motivated in your small business all the time, as humans we have good times and bad. Working through the tough times or the times we lack in motivation and coming out the other side brings its own sense of satisfaction.
